Abraham Lincoln to Martin P. Sweet, 16 September 18581
Centralia, Sept 16. 1858Hon: M. P. SweetMy dear SirYesterday Douglas and I met at Jonesboro– A very trifling thing occurred which gives ^me^ a little uneasiness– I was, at the suggestion of friends, putting in, some resolutions
and the like of abolition caste, passed by Douglas’ friends, some time ago, as a Set-off to his attempts of
a like character against me– Among others I put the questions to T. Campbell and his answers to them, in 1850 when you and he ran for Congress–2 As my attention was divided, half lingering upon that case, and half advancing to
the next one, I mentioned your name, as Campbell’s opponent, in a confused sentence, which, when I heard it myself, struck me as having
something disparaging to you in it– I instantly corrected it, and asked the reporters
to suppress it; but my fear now is that those villainous reporters Douglas has with
him will try to make something out of it–3 I do not myself exactly remember what it was, so little connection had it with any
distinct thought in my my mind, and I really hope no more may be heard of it; but if there should, I write
this
(over)
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to assure you that nothing can be farther from me than to feel, much less, intentionally say anything disrespectful to you–
I sincerely hope you may hear nothing of it except what I have written–
Yours very truly.A. Lincoln42Martin P. Sweet had run as a Whig candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois’ Sixth Congressional District against Democrat Thompson Campbell in the election of 1850. Campbell won the race, garnering 50.7 percent of the vote, while Sweet earned 48.7
percent. During the 1850 campaign, Campbell had been questioned on his positions on
slavery, and Lincoln read the questions that had been posed to Campbell along with
Campbell’s responses at the Lincoln-Douglas Debate in Jonesboro on September 15, 1858 as evidence of antislavery opinions held by allies of Stephen A. Douglas.
In his responses in 1850, Campbell had pledged that he would support bills prohibiting
slavery in U.S. territories and in the District of Columbia, stated that he would oppose the admission of any slave states formed out of Texas or any U.S. territories, committed to voting for the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Act, promised to vote for a speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives who would organize
the committees of that body “so as to give the Free States their just influence in
the business of the legislation”, and asserted his belief that the U.S. Constitution
conferred on the U.S. Congress the power to regulate slavery, and that the protection of human rights demanded the
use of any constitutional means possible to prevent trafficking in enslaved people.
Howard W. Allen and Vincent A. Lacey, eds., Illinois Elections, 1818-1990 (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992), 9, 128;
Third Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Jonesboro, Illinois; Third Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Jonesboro, Illinois; Third Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Jonesboro, Illinois.
3During the Lincoln-Douglas Debate at Jonesboro, Lincoln ended his discussion of Campbell’s
antislavery stances during the latter’s 1850 electoral race against Sweet by pointing
out that both men had recently appeared at the Lincoln-Douglas Debate in Freeport on August 27, with Campbell present to support Douglas and Sweet to back Lincoln.
As reported in the Republican-leaning Chicago Tribune, Lincoln stated that “when Judge Douglas and myself spoke at Freeport in joint discussion,
there was his same friend Campbell, come all the way from California, to help the Judge beat me; and there was poor Martin P. Sweet standing on the platform,
trying to help poor me to be elected.” In reporting this portion of Lincoln’s Jonesboro debate speech the Chicago Times, a Democratic organ, omitted the descriptor “poor” for both Sweet and Lincoln. According
to that newspaper, Lincoln used the phrase “sneaking about” rather than “standing
on the platform” to describe Sweet’s support of Lincoln. As described by The Daily Chicago Times, Lincoln immediately stated “I take back that ugly word” and told reporters “you
must not put that in”, apparently referring to the phrase “sneaking about”.
Lincoln and Douglas debated at Jonesboro as candidates for the U.S. Senate. Lincoln, the candidate of the Republican Party, was challenging Douglas, the Democratic
incumbent. Douglas would go on to defeat Lincoln and retain his seat. See 1858 Federal Election; 1858 Illinois Republican Convention.
Chicago Daily Press and Tribune (IL), 17 September 1858, 1:6; The Daily Chicago Times (IL), 17 September 1858, 2:1; Franklin William Scott, Newspapers and Periodicals of Illinois, 1814-1879, vol. 6 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library
(Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1910), 59, 65; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses
Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 414-16.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).